The arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2 last year was a massive success for Nintendo. It sold 3.5 million units in just four days at launch in June. By August 2025, it had sold over 6 million units, and by November 2025, it had surpassed 10 million units sold. It was outpacing the Nintendo Switch and seemed to be on track to have the best holiday season a new console has ever had. At least, that's what it appeared would happen.
However, according to a new report from The Game Business, that's not exactly how the Nintendo Switch 2's first holiday season went. In the United States, for the period of November to December, the Nintendo Switch 2 reportedly sold 35% less than the Nintendo Switch 1 did in its first holiday season back in 2017.
In the UK, the Switch 2 sold 16% less than the Nintendo Switch 1 for the same period, though when you add the UK sales with the rest of Europe, the Switch 2 is able to beat the Switch 1's debut holiday period by 7%. When you zoom out further and take in the Switch 2 sales in the UK for 2025, the Switch 2 beats the Switch 1 UK sales numbers in 2017 by 6%.
Beyond the UK and the US, the other major market singled out in the report is France, where the Switch 2 holiday sales were 30% below the Switch 1 holiday sales in 2017. While France was where the biggest dropoff happened, across the major markets in Europe, the Switch 2 fell short of the Switch 1.
As for why the Switch 2 slowed down over the holidays, the time of year that is supposed to accelerate sales for new hardware, it's a mixture of factors. As The Game Business points out, while the Nintendo Switch 2 had its fair share of major first-party releases in 2025 between Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Kirby Air Riders and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, none of those are a brand-new 3D Mario platformer. The Switch 1 didn't have Super Mario Odyssey at launch, but it was out by Christmas 2017.
There are also the tariffs introduced last year to consider. While they didn't directly impact the price of the Nintendo Switch 2, they did impact the price of swaths of actual essential products that US consumers need. As Circana executive director and analyst Mat Piscatella has previously pointed out, the new tariffs combined with the rising cost of living are pushing consumers in the US to spend less on non-essentials, video games and entertainment included. That's at least partly why the video game industry in the US had its worst November since 1995 in terms of hardware units sold and physical game sales.
According to The Game Business, a senior Nintendo employee chalked the slow holiday period down to the "complicated economic landscape" and "the absence of a major Western game." Even in Japan, despite the Switch 2 finishing the 2025 year ahead of the Switch 1's launch year sales by 11%, it fell slightly under the Switch 1's 2017 holiday period sales.
As more exclusive titles arrive for the Switch 2, the console is sure to pick up the pace, and it wouldn't be a big surprise if holiday 2026 was a major improvement, especially if we do finally get that new Mario 3D platformer. Also, it wouldn't be a surprise if, when we finally see the full end-of-year results for the UK, US, and EU, the Nintendo Switch 2 is far and away ahead of the Switch 1 in terms of its debut year sales.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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